Gallery Visits | Robert Nava at Vito Schnabel

Kelsey Kuykendall visits Vito Schnabel to see Robert Nava's show "Angels," and gives us some background on the artist's burgeoning career and some of the controversy surrounding his work. Please make sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any future videos, and let us know in the comments which artist you'd like to hear about next!

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

Really don’t understand why people hate on nava, is it because he found it before you? Because you spent 10 years learning how to draw the perfect nose? Come on. The hatred and lack of wanting to understand his work is ridiculous. Art can be fun guys.

[@danieljefferson4490]

Na cause it’s garbage that’s all

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

@@danieljefferson4490 why is it garbage?

[@TD-qi2rw]

I really enjoy your videos ! Thank you.

[@alvintsetv]

He is one of my favourites at the moment - thanks for this!

[@LoveRaven62]

Nice Job.....well spoken on the subject!

[@carlossteez]

robert nava will be a goat of this generation

[@kydop6128]

It's pretty much AbEx! Like De Kooning's women figures. I don't know if childlike is even a way to describe his work. Definitely rejecting a formalist approach to rendering the figure.

[@dijanaharding8111]

Rose Wylie comes to mind.

[@pedrorocha9722]

of course, apparently the sketches are cooler than the.... paintings. I don't hate, but there's nothing to love also. Ultimately, he adds to the surrounding noise, nothing more. Still...nice reportage,

[@casket8530]

I don't get it. Nobody says this about someone like, lets say, De Kooning. Whose work is both abstract and figurative. I don't understand why figurative abstract work gets so much hate these days.

[@pedrorocha9722]

@@casket8530 It's not the figurative abstract art. It's the work, it's what's presented. If it looks too much like arts and crafts from some highschool, it tends to turn me off big time. Even if it was done by the mighty de Kooning. Still, I praise the fact that you are showing non mainstream artists. And thank you for replying.

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

@@casket8530 totally agree. I think artists that go against the norm are automatically labelled as bad, and discredited by the masses, who are pretty uninspired to begin with. It’s the mark of a great artist. People hate the new because it breaks down everything they’ve come to understand. It’s too much for them to comprehend. Art is in constant flux and will always upset people, maybe because they feel left behind. We need to try and appreciate even a fragment of something we dislike, that is how we learn, become better, and open ourselves to the manifoldness of art. Thanks so much for such a condensed and informative video on nava. There isn’t much on him but this guy will be remembered as one of the great painters of our era.

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

@@pedrorocha9722 I’m sorry, but what about nava is like arts and crafts? And how many high school kids to you see actually make work like this, none. But they will be now, because of nava. 🤟

[@pedrorocha9722]

@@emkiandthesundolls757 I went to an arts high school. I saw and studied with nothing but artistic kids. Most of them did more interesting work. It wasn't a big deal back then. Talent and creativity is not an uncommon or rare thing, There's more if it in the world than we can imagine. I can recognize bullshit when I see it. But hey, I praised his sketches....3 months ago. Does that not count ? :)

[@jimhresco1728]

I had a leaky faucet and called a plumber. He said he had 2 years training but finally through hypnosis unlearned all he knew. Took me a week to mop up all the water. 😏

[@michellemarx1810]

seems like if he weren't a Schnabel he'd never get this kind of exposure. love the way you speak on the subject but it seems like giving undeserved intellectual reasoning for his bad art

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

… they are talking about Vito being a schnabel, who father is Julian schnabel, reknowned neoexpressionism artist. Robert nava, is a nava. 😹

[@A92_]

I painted pictures like that in pre school

[@casket8530]

You sound bitter

[@naomiblatch5053]

is rubbish, the same type of work Jhoan Roa had been doing, I don't like those kind of artists

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

To say it rubbish is undermining and rejecting not only an accomplished artist but a new way of building forms with figurative and expressive mark making. Roa is okay, but nava has actually mastered what roa is doing, and is doing it to perhaps a more detailed and complete degree. He is making art fun for artists, and fun art. Art should be these things, not over intellectualised, conceptual bullshit. Although interesting at times ‘good art’ can often be so unresponsive to the viewer. you may find yourself deskilling your own practice when ideas run out. Because understanding and reading ‘bad art’ the nuances of naive are so varied and personally I think it is essential in the process of understanding good art. And trust me, nava is a singular talent, and will be revered for years.

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

Also, roa was doing it after nava. He essentially copied his work.

[@TheKickmatcher]

Rubbish, Art , Bitcoin ,Water, Air. Nourishment!

[@arjayfritzponcardasart]

There is no child-like innocence in his art. Or any art that are like this one. The artist MIMICS the output of a child. That is creepy. If there are anything that can be said to their practice is that they prey on the innocence of the children. And the foolish art critics circle around these type of art, and put meaning to it, to say that it's deep. Wherein fact it is jot deep, it is just an idea be it an experience, or idealism, or whatever, done in a pathetic mimicking of children's innocence. It is called bad art for a reason.

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

Shouldn’t the artist especially the painter aim for the way a child sees the world? Yeah he mimics it, but his output speaks for itself. You’ll love him in years to come. Art critics love him Because he is doing new things, and children are good but there’s more to nava than simple mimicry😂

[@arjayfritzponcardasart]

@@emkiandthesundolls757 new things? Really? Mimicking a child's work is new?

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

@@arjayfritzponcardasart may I ask how long you’ve painted? Because I don’t think you’re seeing beyond the childlike nature of the work and actually looking at what he is doing technically. Try it. Trying to paint as a child would, as an adult, is a faculty we forget. It’s something very difficult to regain in adulthood. I urge you to try and do it. You may unlock your own creative spark. But right now you react too instinctively without taking the time to wrestle your instinct and attempt to understand his work. He mimics a child is not a valid argument. I leave you with a very well known and overused, cliche quote. It tools me four years to paint like Raphael, and a lifetime to paint like a child-Picasso. I hate myself for writing that, but it’s entirely relevant.

[@emkiandthesundolls757]

One more thing- cliche time: Art can be anything. Art is the individuals experience and perception of their given reality. If its ‘just an idea or an experience’ that’s okay. Masterpieces have been made off the back of them.